2011-01-12
Explanation
This comic depicts a scientist who has achieved a breakthrough in DNA data storage, successfully encoding 900 terabytes of data into a single gram of E. coli bacteria. When asked what data was stored, he reveals it was a petabyte of video from a directory on a colleague's computer. The test tube then breaks, releasing the bacteria, and the scientist calls for bio control before it "gets loose."
The final panel jumps forward 20 years, where a child asks another kid what stomach virus he had. The answer -- "10 million hours of cartoon porn" -- reveals that the escaped bacteria spread through the population, and now when people get infected with this E. coli strain, the data stored in its DNA somehow manifests as the content of the illness. The comic satirizes both the real scientific concept of DNA data storage and the uncomfortable reality of what people actually store on their computers, combining it with an absurd sci-fi scenario where embarrassing digital content becomes a literal biological contagion.